Oceanside football head coach Rob Blount described the last two seasons as “reloading years” with his team hovering just above or at .500. Now, its firing on all cylinders and chasing history.
Junior Shane Harmon had arguably his best performance as a varsity quarterback by throwing for 340 yards and four touchdowns -- two apiece to seniors Dillon Tveter and Kyle Scheurer – and gained 60 more on just two carries as the Sailors (6-0) rolled to a 42-14 win over East Meadow Friday night.
Seniors Roman Perisa and Issaiah Spivey added third quarter rushing scores for the high-octane Oceanside offense, which reached at least 42 points for the fifth time this season. Senior captains Simon Wareham and Andrew Dato, freshman Jayden Belone and junior Luke Miller were among the defensive stars.
Oceanside took a 7-0 lead on its first play from scrimmage when Harmon connected with Scheurer on a 70-yard strike down the right side. The Jets tied it moments later, but Harmon hit Tveter on a short screen that went for a 29-yard score and Scheuer on another 62-yard bomb later in the first quarter for a 21-7 lead.
Harmon, the Sailors’ QB1 in 2022, was thrust into action when incumbent Luke Villella went down with a broken shoulder during a 51-34 win at Syosset on Sept. 20. He threw for 168 yards and a score during a 21-14 win at Freeport the previous week and has 10 touchdown passes on the campaign.
“Going into the season, I thought that we had two guys that were high-level, high-talented kids,” Blount said. “Obviously, losing Luke is big because he plays on both sides of the ball, but having Shane there in the bullpen was a big help for us.”
Ten different players have scored on offense for the Sailors this season and the team overall is averaging just over 41 points a game.
Scheurer had three touchdowns, including a 43-yard pick-six, during Oceanside’s wild 42-39 win over defending Long Island and Rutgers Cup-champion Massapequa in the opener. The Sailors exploded for 28 points in the third quarter after trailing 17-14 at halftime and held off a late 22-0 fourth-quarter surge by the Chiefs for the win.
The defense has yielded a combined 34 points over the last three games after allowing the opposing offenses to average 31 in the first three but will face another stiff challenge when the team visits second-place Farmingdale (5-1) Friday night.
The Dalers, winners of three straight, had two takeaways and stuffed Oceanside on the one-yard line on another occasion during a 28-10 win last year after blanking the Sailors 34-0 in 2022.
“They are the most talented team, personnel wise, on paper that we have in Conference I right now,” Blount said. “It’s going to be a tough assignment. But we feel good about ourselves. We feel good in the fact that we’ve got some veterans that have stood out for a long time and we’re excited for the opportunity to play them for a conference title.”
